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Chapter 90
I sat quietlyand listened as Detective Holly carefully walked Rhea through the rest of the interview. She asked all the usual questions. Rhea seemed more in control now, but she hadn’t stopped talking. Amazing. It was as if she didn’t think she had done anything wrong.
Maybe I was giving her too much credit for her law degree, but I almost thought she was setting up a defense of mental incompetence. She legitimately thought she was justified in her actions. After about twenty minutes, my opinion evolved from Rhea setting up the parameters of a mental incompetence defense to realizing she was batshit crazy.
I felt a wave of nerves. Detective Holly caught my eye to let me know she was winding up the interview. She set me up perfectly with a line of questioning. Detective Holly said to Rhea, “Was Michelle Luna the only woman involved in a romantic relationship with you and your husband?”
“Why would that matter?”
Detective Holly looked at me and I fired my first and most important question. This was going to be my only chance before someone ripped me off this case. Whether it was the NYPD terminating my employment or the FBI kicking me out of DC.
I looked directly at Rhea and waited until she focused on me alone. Then I said, “It matters because we are still investigating the murder of Emily Parker. Remember, I asked you questions about Emily just a few days ago right in this spot.”
Rhea Wellmy-Steinberg stared at me, with a look of surprise that quickly changed to anger and then to outrage. Rhea said, “How could you think I would ever hurt Emily? She was everything to me.”
I had to keep up the pressure. “Did Emily get her ‘hooks’ into your husband like Michelle did?” I lifted my hands to use air quotes for possibly the first time in my life.
Now Rhea looked positively pissed off. “How dare you. You claim to be Emily’s friend. How could you ever think she’d try to manipulate my husband? We were all soul mates together. If anything, Emily and I were closer than she and Rob.”
“So you’re saying you had nothing to do with her abduction and murder? I just want to be absolutely clear.”
“If you think that little of Emily and can’t read when someone is telling the truth, I don’t think you’re a particularly good detective.”
I believed her. I could read people well. I also had years of experience. Someone didn’t admit to one homicide then deny another one so vehemently.
After a couple of standard questions, I hit Rhea with “Was she concerned about anyone? Did she feel like she was in danger?”
“From whom? She was a physically fit FBI agent. She never mentioned any concerns.”
I asked, “Had anything changed in her life that you’re aware of?”
Rhea looked off into space as she considered the question. She took her time. Then she said, “Emily wasn’t specific, but she might have gone on a date or started seeing someone before she disappeared.”
“Would she usually talk about her romantic life with you?”
“We had no secrets. Apparently, the person gave her some sort of expensive gift. She wasn’t sure what would happen or how to handle it.”
“Can you tell me anything about this new person? Male, female? Did she mention a name?”
Rhea shook her head. “No. We only talked about it on the phone for a few minutes.”
The interview had run its course. Rhea mentioned something about calling her husband. Then she added, “Or perhaps I need an attorney.” At that point, the interview was effectively over. We weren’t going to ask her any other questions.
Detective Holly handled it perfectly. She said, “Let’s get back to Baltimore so you can make some phone calls and we can straighten this all out.” It was a classic police line to keep a suspect calm until they were booked. It worked more than 80 percent of the time.
By the way Rhea stood up and laid a twenty-dollar bill on the table, I would say she was no exception.
